Update! The iPad is now available in Canada and worldwide. You can now buy the iPad online at great prices!
As the iPad frenzy cools down in the US, Torontonians are still wondering when Apple will announce the Canadian release date of the iPad.
Considering the first day sales figures from the US were beyond spectacular – 300,000 iPads, 250,000 eBooks and more than a million app downloads – it is only a matter of days before the Canada release date is announced.
If you head on over to Apple.ca, you will see the iPad is "Coming Late April". So far, Apple has not commented on when the exact release date will be other than just that, late April.
One possible reason for the delay is copyright issues. Many book publishers, magazine websites and TV Networks have been scrambling the past week weeks to get their content licensed and ready for the iPad but naturally, these processes take time.
Something that strikes me as odd is the fact that no phone company has said anything about the data plans for the iPad users in Canada. When Steve Jobs spoke at the Keynote address in January, he already had the 3G plan details from AT&T. But after 3 months, Rogers, Bell or Fido have yet to reveal any details on what the 3G data plans will cost in Toronto and the rest of Canada.
However there IS a possible iPad release date in Toronto on the horizon. In a weekly memo, Canadian Apple Store employees were told the weekend of April 24, 2010 would be a “Blackout Period”. Anyone who is familiar with the way Apple works will tell you that means something big is happening that weekend.
Putting two-and-two together, one can say with confidence that the iPad will be available in Canada on April 24, though it has not been officially announced yet.
It is too early to tell if April 24 is a pre-order date or the actual release date but looking at previous Apple launches in Toronto (iPhone Touch in 2008), it is likely there will be no pre-order in Canada.
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